Commitment

The church and the family are two institutions God has ordained in His word. For a marriage to last it does not simply take two people who love each other (or have that tingly feeling) - it takes commitment to stay in the marriage no matter what. Biblical divorce is allowed because of the hardness of the human heart (Matt 18:19). I used to think Moses allowed divorce in the case of adultery, but that can't be true based on the laws of that day (Lev. 20:10). Divorce happens when commitment breaks down and one or both people become hard hearted and selfish. The best situation for both people in the marriage is to stay committed to the marriage and deal with your selfish heart.

Now on to the church. Commitment is a key to a healthy church. We live in culture that is HIGHLY me focused, or selfish. We feel our preferences (often we wrongly call them convictions) are right and everyone else in the church should do what we want or we will leave the church. It sounds so ugly said that way, but it is common. The other phrase that is misused by people who leave a church is "God led me to leave". How do you respond to that? God led you to walk away from a commitment you made to His church? I would personally be very careful what I said God led me to do. This is a problem in almost every church in America. God's way is always the best and when he calls us into relationships with others with selfless commitment as the foundation it is for our best. As a person commits to a church that church also commits to them to disciple them, to encourage them, support them in crisis and confront them on sin. These are good things that may be painful at time but will cause us to grow to be more like Christ (Phil. 2). Commitment is a good thing and is not based on what I want, what I like, my needs or my style. It is a blessing to be part of the lives of other people for the glory of God!

Dan